Diagnosis System

ABSTRACT

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a diagnosis system for detecting a state of emergency during assembly of a fuselage ( 101 ) of an airplane is provided, which is adapted for detecting an emergency event and outputting information relating to the actual position of the emergency event. This may provide for a fast error identification during airplane assembly.

The present invention relates to the field of airplane assembling. Inparticular, the present invention relates to a diagnosis system fordetecting a state of emergency during assembly of a fuselage of anairplane, to a method for detecting a state of emergency, acomputer-readable medium, a data processing unit and a program element.

In order to assemble an airplane, the fuselage of the airplane has to bemoved from its construction site to the final assembling place, whichmay be located in a different construction site. This is a difficultprocess which may give reason to damages of the fuselage.

It is an object of the present invention to provide for an improvedassembling of a fuselage of an airplane.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, adiagnosis system for detecting a state of emergency during assembly of afuselage of an airplane is provided, the diagnosis system comprising adetection unit for detecting a state of emergency when the fuselage isin a first assembly state, and an output unit for outputting positioninformation to a user when the state of emergency is detected, whereinthe position information relates to a local position at which the stateof emergency is detected.

Therefore, according to this exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, the diagnosis system may for example be adapted formonitoring the status of the fuselage and its surroundings. If apositioning error or another case of emergency is detected by thedetection unit, an error signal is output. The error signal compriseslocalisation information relating to the position of the emergencyevent.

In order to avoid damage of the huge fuselage, moving of the fuselagemay be performed step by step. After each step, a clearance signal orrelease signal may be generated, in order to unblock the diagnosissystem so that it can move the fuselage to the next position.

However, in case no clearance signal is generated after a certainmovement step, or in case an emergency signal has been generated, theposition, at which the state of emergency has been detected, has to befound in order to be able to check whether this is a new emergencysituation or a false alarm. According to an aspect of the presentinvention, the local position of the emergency event can be locatedwithout loss of time.

It should be noted, that the term “moving of a fuselage” refers to amovement of the fuselage as a whole, but also to a movement of a(future) part of the fuselage or a movement of a construction unit suchas a platform. The term “assembly state” refers to a particular statusof the airplane during construction, comprising a position of thefuselage or the wing.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thediagnosis system is adapted for preventing a movement of the fuselagefrom a first position to a second position when the state of emergencyis detected.

Therefore, according to this exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, the diagnosis system is blocked in case of emergencydetection, such that the reason of the error warning can be removed.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thediagnosis system is adapted for preventing an assembling of the fuselage(101) from the first assembly state to a second assembly state when thestate of emergency is detected.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thestate of emergency corresponds to a local difference between a targetstate and an actual state of the diagnosis system and the fuselage.

For example, the target state is stored in a calculation unit andcompared to the detected actual state of the diagnosis system and thefuselage.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thedetection unit comprises a detector, wherein the detector is adapted asan optical sensor, a pressure sensor or a switch.

The switch may be manually operated, for example, by a user. The opticalsensor may be a light barrier, a photo sensor or a laser, therebyproviding an accurate and fast position detection. The pressure sensor,for example, may, for example, be installed in a place, where there is arisk of a collision of the fuselage with other equipment.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, theoutput unit is adapted for indicating, to the user, the position atwhich the state of emergency is detected by marking the position on agraphical representation of the target state.

For example, according to this exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, the graphical representation of the target state is aschematic representation of the target state or a photograph of thetarget state, comprising different sections of the construction site,such as switches or other detector elements, which have to be in aspecific (target) state. Such elements are marked, for example, bycertain colours or errors on the output unit screen.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thediagnosis system is adapted for moving a wing of an airplane from thefirst position to the second position.

Therefore, according to this exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, not only a fuselage may be moved from the diagnosis system,but also a wing or other heavy object.

Thus, the diagnosis system may always the be used, when a big object,such as a fuselage or a wing of an airplane, has to be moved from afirst position to a second position.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention,outputting the position information and preventing the movement of thefuselage from the first position to the second position is performedautomatically.

Therefore, according to this exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, user interaction is not necessary.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, amethod for detecting a state of emergency during assembly of a fuselageof an airplane is provided, the method comprising the steps of detectinga state of emergency when the fuselage is in a first assembly state andoutputting position information to a user when the state of emergency isdetected, wherein the position information relates to a local positionat which the state of emergency is detected.

This may provide for a safe and effective method of detecting,outputting and localising emergency events.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, themethod further comprises the step of preventing a movement of thefuselage from a first position to a second position when the state ofemergency is detected.

Thus, the diagnosis system may be blocked in case of emergency, therebypreventing damage of the fuselage.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, themethod further comprises the step of preventing an assembling of thefuselage (101) from the first assembly state to a second assembly statewhen the state of emergency is detected.

Beyond this, according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, a computer-readable medium may be provided, in which acomputer program for detecting a state of emergency during assembly of afuselage of an airplane is stored which, when being executed by aprocessor, causes the processor to carry out the above-mentioned methodsteps.

Furthermore, according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, a program element for detecting a state of emergency duringassembly of a fuselage of an airplane is provided, which, when beingexecuted by a processor, causes the processor to carry out theabove-mentioned method steps.

Furthermore, according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, a data processing unit for detecting a state of emergencyduring assembly of a fuselage of an airplane is provided, adapted tocarry out the above-mentioned method steps.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the method ofmoving the fuselage of an airplane from a first position to a secondposition may be embodied as the computer program, i.e. by software, ormay be embodied using one or more special electronic optimizationcircuits, i.e. in hardware, or the method may be embodied in hybridform, i.e. by means of software components and hardware components.

The program element according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may preferably be loaded into working memories of a dataprocessor. The data processor may thus be equipped to carry outexemplary embodiments of the methods of the present invention. Thecomputer program may be written in any suitable programming language,such as, for example, C++ and may be stored on a computer-readablemedium, such as a CD-ROM. Also, the computer program may be availablefrom a network, such as the WorldWideWeb, from which it may bedownloaded into image processing units or processors, or any suitablecomputers.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparentfrom and elucidated with reference to the embodiments describedhereinafter.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in thefollowing, with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a fuselage with markersaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a diagnosis system accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows positioning of a fuselage.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a diagnosis system comprising acomputer system according to the present invention, for executing anexemplary embodiment of a method in accordance with the presentinvention.

The illustration in the drawings is schematically. In differentdrawings, similar or identical elements are provided with the samereference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a fuselage 101 with markers102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 and 109 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. The fuselage 101, together withmarkers 102 to 109, may be depicted on the screen of an output unit 100(which is shown in FIG. 4).

In case of an emergency event, which takes place, for example, at theposition of arrow 105, arrow 105 is highlighted on the output screen orswitches colours (for example, from green to red).

It should be noted, however, that other types of representation may beimplemented in order to indicate the position of an emergency event. Forexample, the coordinate of the invention may be output or a picture ofthe place of the emergency event may be shown on the screen, therebyindicating to the user to which place the emergency event relates.

Therefore, a user is able to quickly determine where such a failure hasoccurred and which steps have to be taken in order to be able tocontinue with the positioning procedure.

After having localised the error or emergency event, the obstacle isremoved or the failure repaired, or other steps are taken in order toremove the error source.

After that, the diagnosis system is unblocked and the fuselage can bemoved from the actual position to the next position.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a diagnosis system 200according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As may beseen from FIG. 2, the diagnosis system 200 comprises a constructionplatform 201 and several detectors 202, 203.

The first detector 202 is adapted for monitoring the position andmovement of the construction platform 201. The second detector 203 isadapted for monitoring the position and movement of the fuselage 101.Both detectors, 202, 203 are linked to the output unit 100 (not depictedin FIG. 2). In case one of the detector units 202, 203 detects anemergency event, a corresponding emergency signal is transmitted to theoutput unit, for example, via a wireless communication link.

Such an emergency event is then represented, together with the positioninformation, on the screen of the output unit 100.

The fuselage 101 is moved by means of positioning units 205, 206.

FIG. 3 shows the positioning of a fuselage 101 from a first position 301to a second position 302 along positioning track 303. If an error isdetected when the fuselage 101 is in the first position 301, thediagnosis system is blocked and the location of the error event isindicated on a display 100.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a diagnosis system according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The diagnosis systemcomprises positioning units 205, 206, adapted for moving the fuselage101 from a first position to a second position. Furthermore, the systemcomprises a plurality of detectors, 202, 203, 204, which are adapted fordetecting an emergency event (or error) and for detecting the actualposition of the emergency event (or error).

The detectors 202, 203, 204 are linked to a computer processor 401 whichis adapted for processing the emergency information. The processor 401is further connected to a computer-readable medium 402, in which acomputer program is stored, enabling the processor to carry out theabove-mentioned method steps.

Furthermore, an output unit 100 and an input unit 403 are connected tothe processor 401 for outputting and inputting information,respectively.

It should be noted that the term “comprising” does not exclude otherelements or steps and the “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. Alsoelements described in association with different embodiments may becombined.

It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims shall not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the claims.

1. Diagnosis system detecting a state of emergency during assembly of afuselage of an airplane, the diagnosis system comprising: a detectionunit (200) for detecting a state of emergency when the fuselage (101) isin a first assembly state; and an output unit (100) for outputtingposition information to a user when the state of emergency is detected;wherein the position information relates to a local position at whichthe state of emergency is detected.
 2. The diagnosis system of claim 1,wherein the diagnosis system is adapted for preventing a movement of thefuselage (101) from the first position (301) to the second position(302) when the state of emergency is detected.
 3. The diagnosis systemof claim 1 or 2, wherein the diagnosis system is adapted for preventingan assembling of the fuselage (101) from the first assembly state to asecond assembly state when the state of emergency is detected.
 4. Thediagnosis system of one of the preceding claims, wherein the state ofemergency corresponds to a local difference between a target state andan actual state of the diagnosis system and the fuselage (101).
 5. Thediagnosis system of one of the preceding claims, wherein the detectionunit (200) comprises a detector (202); wherein the detector (202) isadapted as one of an optical sensor, a pressure sensor, and a switch. 6.The diagnosis system of claim 5, wherein the detector (202) comprises aphoto sensor or a laser.
 7. The diagnosis system of one of the precedingclaims, wherein the output unit (100) is adapted for indicating, to theuser, the position at which the state of emergency is detected bymarking the position on a graphical representation of the target state.8. The diagnosis system of one of the preceding claims, wherein thediagnosis system is adapted for moving a wing of an airplane from thefirst position (301) to the second position (302).
 9. The diagnosissystem of one of the preceding claims, wherein outputting the positioninformation and preventing the movement of the fuselage (101) from thefirst position (301) to the second position (302) is performedautomatically.
 10. A method for detecting a state of emergency duringassembly of a fuselage of an airplane, the method comprising the stepsof: detecting a state of emergency when the fuselage (101) is in a firstassembly state; outputting position information to a user when the stateof emergency is detected; wherein the position information relates to alocal position at which the state of emergency is detected.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising the step of: preventing amovement of the fuselage (101) from a first position (301) to a secondposition (302) when the state of emergency is detected.
 12. The methodof claim 10 or 11, further comprising the step of: preventing anassembling of the fuselage (101) from the first assembly state to asecond assembly state when the state of emergency is detected.
 13. Acomputer-readable medium (402), in which a computer program fordetecting a state of emergency during assembly of a fuselage of anairplane, is stored which, when being executed by a processor (401),causes the processor to carry out the steps of: detecting a state ofemergency when the fuselage (101) is in a first assembly state;outputting position information to a user when the state of emergency isdetected; wherein the position information relates to a local positionat which the state of emergency is detected.
 14. A program element fordetecting a state of emergency during assembly of a fuselage of anairplane, which, when being executed by a processor (401), causes theprocessor to carry out the steps of: detecting a state of emergency whenthe fuselage (101) is in a first assembly state; outputting positioninformation to a user when the state of emergency is detected; whereinthe position information relates to a local position at which the stateof emergency is detected.
 15. A data processing unit for detecting astate of emergency during assembly of a fuselage of an airplane, thedata processing unit comprising: a memory for storing a target state ofthe fuselage; a processor (401) adapted for: detecting a state ofemergency when the fuselage (101) is in a first assembly state;outputting position information to a user when the state of emergency isdetected; wherein the position information relates to a local positionat which the state of emergency is detected.